Franco

General Francisco Franco (1892–1975), ruler of Spain for nearly forty years, was one of the most powerful and controversial leaders in that nation's long history. This deeply researched biography treats the three major aspects of his life—personal, military, and political. It depicts his early life, explains his career and rise to prominence as an army officer who became Europe's youngest interwar brigadier general in 1926, and then discusses his role in the affairs of the troubled Second Spanish Republic.Stanley G. Payne and Jesús Palacios examine in detail how Franco became dictator and how his leadership led to victory in the Spanish Civil War that consolidated his regime. They also explore Franco's role in the great repression that accompanied the Civil War—resulting in tens of thousands of executions—and examine at length his controversial role in World War II. This masterful biography highlights Franco's metamorphoses and adaptations to retain power as politics, culture, and economics shifted in the four decades of his dictatorship.

An intimate portrait of Franco the man, provoking a lively and necessary debate about the nature of the dictator's regime.""- Julius Ruiz, author of Franco's Justice""This compelling biography of Francisco Franco situates the Caudillo in his Spanish and global context. It covers every aspect of Franco's life- from birth to death, from the political to the personal- displaying a judicious and critical understanding of this very controversial figure.""- Michael Seidman, author of The Victorious Counterrevolution: The Nationalist Effort in the Spanish Civil War""During and after his life, Francisco Franco garnered more than fifty studies of his life, but Franco: A Personal and Political Biography is quite simply one of the best. At last we are presented with a genuinely objective, balanced, above all dispassionate biography, written by two vastly experienced and distinguished scholars. The book's cool and measured conclusions- always lucidly presented- reflect almost uncannily the meticulously pragmatic approach of the subject himself to the numberless military and political issues his career confronted. From being a twentieth-century pariah of world politics, Franco has now come into his own in terms of serious academic attention.""- Robert Stradling, author of Your Children Will Be Next: Bombing and Propaganda in the Spanish Civil War""Francisco Franco is the only major twentieth-century dictator to die peacefully in his bed- after almost four decades in power. His regime was brutal, despicable, and in many respects ineffectual, yet it did not join the Axis powers in World War II and was a transitional type between traditional military dictatorships and more recent totalitarian regimes. This book, impeccably based on the available sources and displaying sober judgment, could well be the definitive work on the subject.""- Walter Laqueur, author of Fascism: Past, Present, Future""A very thorough and readable biography that masterfully combines research on Franco's life and regime with new and unique sources including Franco's private papers and interviews with Franco's only daughter. It will appeal to a broad readership including anyone interested in the history of twentieth-century Spain, the Spanish civil war, and the Franco regime.""- Joan Maria Thomàs, University Rovira-Virgili, Spain

Stanley G. Payne is the Hilldale–Jaume Vicens Vives Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the author of many books, including A History of Fascism, 1914–1945; The Franco Regime, 1936–1975; and Spain: A Unique History. Jesús Palacios is a noted historian, investigative journalist, and adjunct professor at the University of Madrid.